Page 69 of Daughters of Paris

Sébastien grinned and broke it into squares. ‘Don’t ask.’

Fleur frowned but took a square and popped it into her mouth. Colette drew her hand back. ‘Marché noir?’

‘Let’s just say I know someone who doesn’t have a taste for chocolate but enjoys his wine. Take it, please. Consider it an apology for my rudeness the other day.’

He held the square between forefinger and thumb. Such a small thing, but so enticing. Colette felt her opposition weakening and it collapsed entirely when Sébastien brought it level with her mouth.

‘I accept.’

Sébastien leaned towards her. ‘The apology or the chocolate?’

‘Both.’ She parted her lips and he placed the square between them, keeping his eyes on hers. She drew it onto her tongue and let it melt, enjoying both the creaminess and the expression of satisfaction on Sébastien’s face. The quality had declined thanks to the difficulties of getting ingredients, but she would not have exchanged it for the largest box ofbonbonsin existence.

Fleur coughed loudly, breaking the moment, as she had presumably intended to. ‘If you have finished feeding each other, can we get to business? I want to know what is happening before the grass gets more crowded.’

Sébastien and Colette exchanged a guilty look that was nonetheless tinged with the promise that the flirting would continue later. Sébastien sat up and reached across to refill the women’s glasses. As they came close, he lowered his voice.

‘It will be another week, but tell your friend to be in the alley beside the Cinema Gaumont at curfew on the fourteenth.’

‘Bastille Day,’ Fleur said.

Colette winced. There would be no parades this year and the Germans would no doubt be increasing patrols.

‘It is the only day that could work. He will be asked if he can help carry a trunk to a van. He should ask if it is for Claude and when the answer is yes, he should get in the back of the van.’

‘Thank you.’ Colette felt a rush of gratitude and relief. Once again, she had the urge to hug him in thanks but held back. She looked at Fleur who had a thoughtful expression.

‘Where will he go?’ Fleur asked.

Sébastien shook his head. ‘I don’t know. From there on his journey is in the hands of others.’

Fleur smiled. ‘To one of the threads of string all over the country. I’ve been thinking a lot about that. Those people who helped Monsieur Ramper and Francine aren’t alone. They’re part of something bigger.’

She took a sip of wine and her eyes slid sideways to where a party of two couples were setting up their deckchairs close by, amid shrieks of laughter. Even in the privacy of an open park it was right to be wary.

‘All the leaflets in the world don’t change anything. France hasn’t fought back as a result. All that happens is more and more people disappear or turn on each other. Where did they all go? Not just the Jews, the soldiers who are captured in battle. I want to help them. I want to become more involved in this network.’

Chapter Nineteen

Colette realised she hadn’t exhaled all the time Fleur had been speaking. ‘Do you really mean that? It sounds dangerous.’

‘Dangerous, but important. I know there are groups of people out there who are more active, striking at the Germans in a way that will hurt them and help our soldiers. You know people who know people who know people.’

She fixed her eyes on Sébastien. The expression of ferocity in her eyes was at odds with her petite, slight appearance. Colette could not imagine her striking at anyone. ‘That sounds so tangled, doesn’t it? But I want you to tell them I want to become one of them.’

Sébastien dipped a leftover slice of baguette into the jar of courgette paste. He chewed it slowly before answering. ‘Let me ask.’

‘What?’ exclaimed Colette. ‘I don’t want Fleur to do that!’

Sébastien reached for her hand and pressed it gently while flicking his eyes to the other group. ‘It isn’t your decision. It’s Fleur’s.’

‘Well I think it’s a stupid decision, and far too dangerous,’ Colette said.

‘You were the one who invited our guest to stay,’ Fleur muttered.

Colette slammed down her glass. ‘That was different. He’s a friend. These will be strangers.’

‘He is our friend but strangers will be helping him. The people I want to help will have friends too and they will be relying on strangers.’

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